WEEKLY COMMENTARY: How Can I Get Myself "Right" With God?

Most of us will admit that from time to time we do or think wrong things.  We understand that God may not really approve of such behavior on our part.  What can we do so that God will forgive us?  How do we get "right" with God?

In the Book of Luke, Jesus offers us this helpful parable (Luke 18:10-14):

          "Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the 

           other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood up and prayed about 

           himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men ---- robbers,

           evildoers, adulterers ---- or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice 

           a week and give a tenth of all I get.' "

          "But the tax collector stood at a distance.  He would not even look

           up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on 

           me, a sinner.' "

          "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified 

           before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and 

           he who humbles himself will be exalted."

In one sense, the Pharisee certainly was a good man.  When he says he gives a tenth of all he gets, that means he's generous to the poor.  When he says he doesn't commit adultery, that means he is a faithful husband.

But let's look at the Pharisee's prayer ---- whenever we write a thank-you letter to somebody, aren't we thanking them for things that they have done?  However, the Pharisee says, "God, I thank you," and that's it.  That's the last reference to God.  The prayer is all about the Pharisee himself.  This is self-worship.  Underneath the veneer of God-centeredness is utter self-centeredness.  Underneath the veneer of all that God-talk and all the God-activity and all the morality, is adoration of self.

The Pharisee's view of acting morally and being righteous seems to have two characteristics:

          1.) His understanding of sin and virtue is completely external.  It's

               completely focused on behavior and the violation of, or the keeping of,                        rules.  It's not looking inside.  It is not looking at character.  Sin is

               perceived completely in terms of discrete individual actions.  Notice he                      doesn't say, "God, I thank you that I am getting more patient.  I'm getting                  to be a gentler person.  I am able to love people I used to not be able to                    love.  I'm able to keep my joy and my peace, even when things go                            wrong."    

          2.) The Pharisee says, "I'm not like the other man," implying, "I am so much

               better" ---- perhaps he is looking down on those "other men."  

Now, consider the tax collector.  What can we learn about repentance from his attitude?

If you think of sin externally and comparatively, like the Pharisee, there's always somebody who has committed more sins than you.  You are only ever a sinner, you are never the sinner.  The Pharisee, it seems, is thinking of sin in absolute terms.

On the other hand, what the tax collector is saying is, "All I know is I'm lost, and where everybody else thinks they are does not matter."  The tax collector is not just looking at what he's done wrong ---- he is not just looking at his discrete individual actions ---- his whole understanding of himself is that he is the sinner ---- it is how he sees himself.  It is a part of his identity.  He asks for mercy.  He sees his dependence on God's radical grace.

The attitude of the tax collector shows us that real repentance involves real sorrow over sin and the way it has grieved God.  Fake repentance is sorrow over the consequences of sin and the way it has grieved you. Self-pity may appear to be repentance, but it is not.

Jesus says the tax collector went home "justified before God."  What does Jesus mean by "justified before God?"  What is "justification"?  Scholar and Presbyterian pastor Timothy Keller says that in this parable, Jesus introduces us to a universal problem ---- the problem of righteousness, and then Jesus gives us two figures, each of whom represents a particular solution to the problem.  One solution does not work, says Keller.  The other one does work. 

The Pharisee is trying to justify himself by his good deeds and by his conscientious religious practices.  He is keeping God's rules, but in such a way (focusing on the external) that it makes him feel good about himself and so he can say, "Now, God, you owe me."  He is keeping God's external rules as a way of earning his justification.  He is not depending on God's radical grace.  The tax collector, on the other hand, shows by his words and actions that he is utterly depending on God's mercy.

"Justification" is a legal term, borrowed from the law courts.  It is the exact opposite of "condemnation."  To condemn is to declare somebody guilty, whereas "to justify" is to declare him righteous.  In the Bible it refers to God's act of unmerited favor by which God puts a sinner right with Himself ---- not only pardoning or acquitting him, but by accepting him and treating him as righteous.  No matter what we attempt to do for ourselves, only God can do this.

We are justified and thus treated as righteous because of God's unmerited favor. God's love and acceptance of us, says Pastor Keller, is secured through Christ, and we obey God's law out of a desire to delight, resemble and know Jesus.

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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage some personal growth for you this year at CPC.

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